Verification of Unusual Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2014-008
(transcribed from a hand-written form, by the webmaster)

Common name:

Rose-throated Becard
Scientific name: Pachyramphus aglaiae
Date: April 2000 (I saw her about 5 days before I saw the male)
Time: About 7:00 A.M.
Length of time observed: About 15 minutes
Number: 1
Age: Adult
Sex: Female
Location: Near the Fort Pierce Wash, beside west end of St. George Golf Course
County: Washington
Latilong:  
Elevation: 2700 feet
Distance to bird: About 20 feet
Optical equipment: Just my eyes - I didn't happen to have my binoculars.
Weather: Sunny morning
Light Conditions: The sun was to the side & slightly behind me
Description:        Size of bird: 6 or 7 inches
(Description:)       Basic Shape: Smaller than a Robin, more slender, large head, thick billed.
(Description:)  Overall Pattern: Medium brown, darker head, breast yellowish tan, neck ring same.
(Description:)            Bill Type: Dark & thick
(Description:)                              
Field Marks and
Identifying Characteristics:		 The back, wings and tail all a nice clear brown, the head a lightly darker brown.  The breast a light tan, almost a yellow tinge to it in the bright sunlight.  The breast color extendes onto the cheeks and around the neck.  A dark, thick beak.
Song or call & method of delivery: It (she) was quiet while I was observing her, no sound.
Behavior: She was on the ground under a Cottonwood tree, scratching some.
Habitat: She was in a grove of Cottonwoods & Tamarisk on a tributary of the Virgin River.
Similar species and how
were they eliminated:		 At first I wondered if she were an Abert's Towhee as I had seen some of them in that area a couple of weeks before.  Then she moved into the sunlight & she was a brighter color -- they, Towhees, are a grayish brown much larger.
Previous experience with
this & similar species:		 I never saw either male or female of this species before.
References consulted: Peterson Field Guides WESTERN BIRDS Third Edition and National Geographic Field Guide to the BIRDS of North America.
Description from: Notes made later and from memory
Observer: Elva Carol M. Christian
Observer's address: 246 S. 500 E. St. George, UT  84770
Observer's e-mail address: None
Other observers who independently identified this bird: I don't know of anyone.
Date prepared: March 12, 2014
Additional material:  
Additional_Comments: When I saw the female Becard I wasn't sure what she was.  I was too busy that day to look it up when I got home.  A few days later I saw the male Becard.  When I looked it up in the book I then saw the female picture and said, "Wow!  That is the bird, I saw near the Fort Pierce Wash!"  I recently went down there to determine how far apart they were (I still remember the exact spots where I saw them.)  The were only about one mile apart, if that far.